


Charmed

by MagicalMajestys



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Blood, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Romance, Underage Drinking, Vampire!Jean, Vampires, really mild drug use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-08
Updated: 2015-04-29
Packaged: 2018-02-24 14:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2585459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicalMajestys/pseuds/MagicalMajestys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“He charmed them, but what else is new, huh? Looks like he got you too.”</i>
</p><p>After being ridiculed by resident asshole, Jean Kirschtein one morning in History class, Armin Arlert discovers that he has fallen victim to a mass spell cast over his peers despite not feeling any different himself. He tries to will away the feeling but his curiosity soon gets the better of him when he meets Annie, a mysterious girl claiming that his bully is not all that he makes himself out to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Goosebumps

**Author's Note:**

> Woah hey everybody, normally I don't write fics like this but I really wanted vampire!Jean and human Armin so it just kind of happened.
> 
> And enemies to friends to lovers is kind of new to me too since Jean is more of a good asshole than a bad asshole so I wanted to start this fic off differently. Chapters will be longer than I normally write them too since this fic actually does have a plot (I know, it's shocking).
> 
> Kind of a slowish build so everything makes more sense the more you read, I tried really hard to keep everyone in character despite all the stuff going on, so I hope you guys like it!

There’s nothing I hated more than gushy romance novels.

You know, the kind of shit you’d read before bed but never take seriously. It was all a fad, an illusion. Fake.

Well, if you looked at it from where I was standing anyway, you could cross my name right off the list for possible heroes of this story. Mostly because I was a small, blonde, totally untouchable reject who was sometimes- well, most of the time, too curious for his own good.

I always felt invisible among the crowd of students filling up the corridor as they fought to get to their lockers at the start of the day. It was an effort even making it through the hallways to get to my own locker on days like this. Not that there was hardly ever a day like today. Same people, same weather. 

Same rain.

Again. It was no wonder why I was feeling low, especially standing beside someone as confident and self assured as my best friend, Eren Jaeger. And walking beside him was the ever beautiful and poised, Mikasa Ackerman, his step-sister. We would always walk in a three, always- no exception. It was just our way and we were inseparable, from childhood all the way up to our teenage years. School was mostly a nightmare, well, mostly being a stretch considering the amount of times I had been jammed inside my locker during the beginning of my first year as a junior. Sixteen years old and I still felt like it was freshman year, although it wasn’t like they were doing any better. 

Eren had pulled his hood off from over his head, blabbering about something I hadn’t been listening to as he tugged us toward his locker. 

“Have you got your class schedule?” Mikasa asked the two of us, waving hers in front of Eren’s face until he sighed and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket.

“I’ve got mine in my bag,” I replied, while Eren tried to mend his ripped up schedule by taping it onto the inside of his locker, “I didn’t want to lose it again this year.”

“Do we have any classes together this period?” Eren asked once his attempts of sticking up the piece of paper had deemed good enough.

I pulled my rucksack off my back and unzipped the front pocket, pulling out my neatly folded schedule before showing Mikasa.

She stared down at hers for a while before her eyes darted towards mine and then Eren’s, letting out a small sigh of realisation, “We both have History first period, Eren you have biology. Will you be alright on your own?”

“Geez, Mikasa,” Eren groaned, slamming his locker door shut before pulling his now empty looking bag over his shoulder, “I’m not a baby, we've been going to this school for two years already. I’ll be fine.”

“Just making sure.”

“God, just give me a break will ya,” he called as he walked off down the hall, “I’m not going anywhere!”

Mikasa sighed and stared at the ground. It was hard enough for her, losing her parents then getting rejected by her brother time and time again. The broken bell across the hallway let out a shrill ring and I bit the inside of my cheek while I waited for her to compose herself.

“Hey,” I whispered, nudging her arm until she looked up at me, “Let’s get going, we don’t wanna be late for class.”

She nodded as I pulled her along towards History class where the forever ticked off Mr. Bossard was already sitting at his desk at the front of the classroom, waiting as students continued to pour into the room. 

It was still raining.

Mr. Bossard groaned and stood from his seat before walking out of the classroom despite the rules regarding student/teacher supervision after the bell. I dragged Mikasa towards our two favourite seats at the back of the class and kicked my bag under the desk. I got the window seat and it put me in a better mood. Mikasa had also cheered up significantly as she pulled out her notes from last lesson. I bent down to sort through my rucksack before pulling out my own textbook and plopping it onto the desk, only to hear it smash to the ground again as I raised my head to stare up at a familiar looking figure.

“Hey there, princess,” he sneered, “Drop your diary?”

I heard some snickers from across the room when I bent over to pick up my book, only to have it kicked away from my hands before it slid across the room and underneath the teacher’s desk.

“Leave me alone, Jean.”

“Or what? Is the little princess going to fight me? Ooo, I’m so scared!” he snickered, nudging Marco’s arm until he laughed uncomfortably beside him.

“He said leave him the fuck alone,” Mikasa hissed, getting up from her chair to stand in front of me, “Unless you’re looking for a real fight.”

Jean laughed awkwardly, taking a step back to head towards his desk but not breaking eye contact with her, “Sorry, 'Kasa,” he grinned, face reddening slightly as he held up his hands in defeat, “Beauties like yourself shouldn’t being hanging with dorks like him. Jus’ saying, it’s pointless defending someone as scrawny as that guy.”

Mikasa narrowed her eyes before holding out a hand to pull me off the ground, “Don’t worry about douchebags like him,” she whispered, bending down slightly to talk to me more efficiently, “He’s just a bully, he’s not important.”

I nodded at her slowly and walked to the front of the class, ignoring the jeers coming from behind me as I bent down and slid my hand under the desk that Mr. Bossard had left vacant beforehand. I grabbed my book quickly and practically ran back to my seat, avoiding the leg that Ymir had stuck out on my way over.

Mr. Bossard finally stepped back into the room with a large pile of books in his arms. He dropped them loudly on his desk and turned his back towards the class, writing on the whiteboard in big, blocky letters.

“Stop your laughing, brats,” he snapped, “Just… Shut up already, damn it! Just get out your textbooks and turn to page one hundred and ninety-six.”

“One hundred and ninety-six,” Reiner mimicked from a few places in front of him before scrunching up a page from the book and chucking it against the board beside Mr. Bossard’s head. Silence fell over the class for a few seconds but the volume rose again at the lack of his usual response to nearly being hit in the head with a piece of school property.

“Feeling funny today, are we class?” Mr. Bossard hissed, “Well, since you all seem to be oh so excited about learning this morning, we could just have a pop quiz instead. Does that sound fun? No? Any takers?”

The class quieted down as he whipped his head round to glare around the room, “Any volunteers to read then?”

There were groans across the classroom and the familiar thunk of Connie Springer’s bald head hitting the wooden desk in exasperation. I turned to stare out of the window, watching the rain fall from the sky and trail along the glass before disappearing. I felt more at ease now I knew that class had started and Cockstein (as Eren liked to call him), and his gang couldn’t reach me from here.

“Asshole,” I hissed under my breath, watching as he slipped a piece of paper to Reiner under his desk before leaning back against his chair to hand something else to Marco.

“You said something, Mr. Arlert?” Mr. Bossard inquired, interrupting my thoughts before tapping his long, skeletal fingers on top of his desk, “Because if you had heard me a minute ago, I think I asked for silence.” 

There was nothing I could say to make the situation any better. Mikasa shot me a look out of the corner of her eye and he was right, the class was silent.

“I just,” I replied, looking around to see all eyes in the room facing my direction, “I, uh, I was just volunteering to read.”

I could hear Ymir snickering from the front of the room but I didn’t turn to look, focusing my attention on my teacher alone until he gave up our short staring match with a loud sigh, flipping through the pages of his book and pointing to the flimsy piece of paper sticking out at a peculiar angle.

“Paragraph two, start.”

“During the war, the two opposing sides-”

“Wrong.”

“What?” I said, looking up from my book.

“I said wrong,” Mr Bossard sighed, “What page are you on Arlert?”

“One hundred and ninety-” I peered over Mr. Bossard’s shoulder at the pages Jean and Reiner were waving at me from the front of the classroom, “six.”

“Anybody else!?” Mr Bossard bellowed, “Does anybody else know what page we are reading!?” 

“One hundred and ninety-six, sir” Jean said smugly, resting his arm on the back of his chair, golden eyes flashing dangerously, “We’re on page one hundred and ninety-six.”

But that’s what I said. That’s exactly what I said. He stole my pages and he got away with it when they were right there only a second ago. How?

He sent another smug looking grin my way before reading the passage, ignoring my heavy stare targeted towards the back of his ridiculously long head.

School really was a nightmare.

\-----------------------------------

“And then he said one hundred and ninety-six! Which is exactly the same thing I said before!” I exclaimed, tightening my grip on the straps of my bag as I walked towards my locker with Eren and Mikasa in tow, “You heard me, didn’t you, Mikasa?”

Mikasa looked away, staring at her shoes the way she always did whenever she felt bad about something, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know!? I know it happened at the beginning of the day but-!” I snapped, shutting my books in my locker before slamming the door, “You were right there! I opened the book to the page and it was there but he just- but he was just waving it around in his hands, mocking me.”

Eren shrugged and patted my back slowly, “I believe you, man. That guy is an ass and hey, I’m really sorry about him bugging you like that. I’m gonna finish this, I promise.”

“But I just don’t get it, you guys,” I mumbled, leaning back against the lockers to stare at the ugly white walls across the hall, “The page was there, I was staring right at it. Then all of a sudden it was gone.”

“Armin,” Mikasa whispered, “Are you sure you aren’t sick, I can take you to the infirmary if you aren‘t feeling well, the final bell hasn’t gone yet, there’s still-”

“I’m not sick,” I said, cutting her off before she could say anything else, “School’s over and I don’t want to waste your time, I just need some time to think. You guys can go home.”

Mikasa looked like she was going to speak again but Eren held her back, putting his hand on my shoulder before giving me a curt nod as they walked towards the exit, “Gotcha. We’ll see you later, bud.”

I waved them off but remained standing in front of my closed locker, probably looking like a complete idiot. I just couldn’t get over it, he’d made me look like a fool in one of my best classes. Even my best friends thought I was going mad.

I sighed and rest my head against my locker. Idiot.

And to make matters worse I just couldn’t seem to get those glowing golden eyes out of my head. They had to be contacts, I was sure of it. Nobody has eyes that colour. 

I just wish that I was as hard headed as Eren was about it, sure he was the one who had started this whole thing with Jean and his gang but he knew how to handle it opposed to me, “the fragile one.”

“Well then, I’m sorry to interrupt your little sob story, the fragile one, but can you move. I kind of need to get to my locker.”

I said that out loud? Shit. I jumped back and turned around, trying to find the one who had oh so politely told me to get out of their way, only to find myself looking down. Locking eyes with a small blonde girl that wore a tired expression, sharp blue eyes, and had a very distinct looking nose.

She huffed in annoyance as I moved away from her, watching as she opened her locker and shoved a pile of non-school related objects, or whatever they were, inside.

“And just so you know,” she hissed, “I’m not that much smaller than you are- just get out of my way when I ask.”

“I’m sorry uh-”

“Annie.”

“Right, Annie,” I sighed, “Look, I’m not having one of the greatest days and-”

“It’s because of Kirschtein, right? The guy that’s bugging you,” she said, turning to fix me with her indifferent stare, “He stole my friends.”

“He what?”

“Didn’t you hear me the first time?”

“Yeah, just,” I mumbled, fiddling with the straps of my bag, “how?”

“You’re bolder than you look,” she hummed, folding her arms and leaning back against my locker, “He charmed them, but what else is new, huh? Looks like he got you too.”

“Charmed?” I snorted, self consciously tucking a piece of hair behind my ear while she stared blankly up at me, eyes burning into mine, “Really?”

She shrugged and dropped her gaze, looking away towards the end of the corridor, “He’s got a way about him, thinks he’s better than everybody else.”

“Well, you’ve got that right.”

“He’s lonely,” she said softly, tapping her shoes together quietly, “Jealous.”

“Jealous?”

“Jealous,” she smiled, though her words seemed to come out in a hiss. It was almost scary the way she had said it, as if it satisfied her.

“So your friends?”

“Bertholdt and Reiner,” she murmured, “Charmed.”

“And me?”

“Charmed.”

None of what this girl, Annie, was saying was making any sense. Charmed? Charmed in what way? I didn’t feel any different than I normally did albeit being slightly irate at today’s events.

“I know what he did to you,” she continued, “He made a fool of you. In front of your teacher, in front of your friends.”

I gulped and shifted slightly in my place. Goosebumps.

“It wasn’t just him.”

“Please, don’t be kind to him. Just take my words of advice,” she deadpanned, her original glare set back in place, “He’s only like this because of what your friend did in freshman year so I suggest you keep yourself to yourself and stay out of it.”

“Stay out of it? How do you even know about what happened in the first place?” I asked, eyebrows furrowing slightly as I tried to make sense of her words, “How do you know about any of this!?”

“Experience, mostly- and besides,” she sighed, “When someone gets into big trouble, everybody finds out eventually. He was a good kid back then, your friend not so much. I feel sorry for you.”

“I don’t need your sympathy.”

She raised her eyebrows and stood up straight, blue eyes examining me for a while before she backtracked down the hallway, “You know, you’re kind of hard to read. One minute you‘re quiet and dorky, but the next you actually try to stand up for yourself. You trust your own judgement, I like that,” she said, “You’re an alright kind of guy. I’ll see you around, the fragile one.”

“Actually-” I called after her, “My name is Armin!”

She shot me another look from over her shoulder, eyes glowing as she pushed open the door of the exit- a trick of the light, maybe. And as if on cue, the final bell rang, leaving me to walk the empty hallway alone for the first time in two years.

\-----------------------------------

“Hey, man. I’m sorry about leaving you back there. It just looked like you wanted to be left alone for a bit,” Eren’s voice came through the receiver of my phone as I held it to my ear, “Mikasa’s still worried so I thought I’d give you a call anyway, see how you were doing.”

“I’m alright, I was being stupid earlier. I think…I think I just zoned out or something, he must of took the pages before class started,” I lied, turning on my laptop and waiting for it to start up.

“Oh, well,” Eren paused slightly before continuing, “I mean it’s not a big deal or anything.”

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal.”

“Did you get home alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled, taking my phone out of the junction between my shoulder and my neck to put it on speaker phone so I could type into Google:

_Can people have golden eyes?_

“Amber?” I murmured.

“What?” Eren said from the receiver, “Hey, if you’re still unwell I’ll let you rest for a while- it’s getting kind of late so I get it if you’re busy with homework or whatever.”

“Yeah, actually,” I replied, clicking links as I scrolled through the webpage, “yeah, I’ve got homework I’m doing uh, now.”

“Right…“ he drawled, despite not sounding too certain himself, “Well, goodnight, Armin.”

“Night Eren.”

I sighed and hung up the phone. Great, now he thought I was even crazier.

_Looks like he got you too._

Charmed? Charmed? _Charmed?_ That’s what she said right?

I searched warlocks but nothing I found seemed to match the description. Golden eyes, charms? Nothing.

Why was I looking into all of this supernatural junk anyway, he probably took the pages before the lesson and I just didn’t notice. There was no way that type of stuff could exist. That girl- Annie, she was probably just playing a prank on me. That’s what the cool kids do, right? Play pranks on all the nerdy losers wandering around the halls alone?

But then again, I had never seen her around the school before. And she was definitely not new to Trost High considering the kind of information she knew about Jean. Was she his lifelong enemy? An ex-girlfriend maybe? An ex-girlfriend who wants revenge?

There were so many logical explanations to what happened today but I went with the most ridiculous pick of the bunch. There are no such thing as witches or warlocks, really, I was just kidding myself. I was just tired and moody and totally drained after all the weird shit that happened today.

“Go to bed, idiot,” I mumbled to myself before closing down my browser.

I sighed and slumped down onto my carpet, clutching a pillow to my chest and staring up at the ceiling, still trying to come up with an explanation for what had happened earlier this morning. Things like that just don’t disappear right? 

How did all this shit with Jean even start anyway? We were on good speaking terms at the beginning of freshman year and there was never any malice to any of our conversations either. The whole Eren versus Jean situation had gotten way too out of hand back then but now I had been dragged into it too. I was lucky if I was able to even avoid him after that incident, let alone keep up a conversation that didn’t involve me getting threatened or laughed at in his presence.

“Is he really lonely?” I wondered, grabbing a pillow from my bed and tucking it underneath my chin, “He has a lot of friends.”

Recalling the words that Annie had said about Eren made me bury my head even further into the warm cushion. The fight was his fault, definitely, but I’d never be able to say that to his face. He was my best friend for crying out loud! And I definitely couldn't say that I’d thought Jean was quite brave at the time for taking responsibility while Eren got off scot-free. I gripped the pillow tighter, I could have said something- I should have said something, maybe then Jean wouldn’t be like this. 

When he came back three weeks after his suspension had ended there was something different about him. It wasn’t just in the cold way he had brushed me off on the first day back, something just felt off.

It was like his whole demeanor had changed. He looked older, he acted maliciously, his presence demanded to be felt, and his features looked somewhat more piercing than before. He was suddenly swarmed with more friends than before he had left and it only fuelled Eren’s anger even further.

I silently let a few wasted tears fall from my eyes and onto my pillow. I felt no ache, no kind of sadness. If I really could describe what I was feeling right now I would probably say, that I was feeling sympathetic for someone, sympathetic for something that happened over two years ago. But what was that worth?

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. This was stupid, this was really stupid. The only reason why I was so worked up was because of that Annie girl and what she’d told me. I was overly curious and she made me want to listen to what she had to say.

Who was she to Jean? How did she know about the suspension? How did she know about what Eren did to Jean in freshman year? And what was this whole thing about being charmed!?

I wanted to know, I had to find her.

\-----------------------------------

“Hey man,” said Eren the next day, waiting beside Mikasa in front of my house with his hood up and her umbrella out and hanging limply by her side, “Sorry for being such an ass yesterday.”

There was no rain today, surprisingly, as I made my way out the door to greet my friends.

“Hey yourself,” I grinned as we started towards the school, steps in sync as we head through a short cut in the park next door, “and I should be the one apologizing. I didn’t mean to worry you guys yesterday, I just got a little frustrated.”

“It happens,” Mikasa shrugged, a soft smile pulling at her lips, “No biggie.”

“I guess so. I just wanted to make sure we were all alright. You guys mean a hell of a lot to me and I guess I kind of overreacted.”

“So we’re cool?” Eren interjected, shuffling slightly in his place to pretend he wasn’t shivering from the cold.

“We’re cool,” I chuckled, securing my rucksack as we walked, “And it’s freezing out here, you need a real jacket.”

Mikasa nodded in agreement and Eren groaned loudly in response, making us both laugh as we walked the wet path of St. Rose’s Avenue, arms linked together as we trudged the rest of our way to school.

Our lockers were placed along different corridors and we always stopped off one by one until we got to Eren’s and the bell, still broken from freshman year, let out it’s usually shrill shriek.

It was like yesterday never happened but for some weird reason I didn’t want to leave it at that. The day passed by without a hitch and for the rest of the week the sun shone out from behind the clouds. Jean was the same as he’d always been and Mikasa and Eren never left my side out of classes, but something still felt off.

I sat in my room alone that weekend. Scrolling through web pages and ignoring the occasional buzz from my phone. I hadn't seen Annie after that day and no matter how hard I’d searched for her, I wasn't able to find her. It like she had just disappeared off school grounds, leaving me thoroughly confused for the eternity of the week. Why would she tell me those things and then leave without another word?

If it were any other circumstance I’d probably be out with Eren and Mikasa, enjoying the nice weather while it lasted, but I was still too curious, I wanted answers.

And if I couldn't find out through other people, I’d just have to figure it out myself.

I ran down the stairs calling out a goodbye and the usual, “I'm going to the library,” to my grandfather before pulling on my thin brown jacket, grabbing my rucksack and heading out the door.

The library would have the information I was looking for, it was almost a guarantee. Mythical humanoid creatures and information regarding strange or psychological behaviours.

The sky crackled as I closed the door behind me, looking up to find the only thing that I did expect to see on a day to day basis.

Rain.


	2. What Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Know who your friends are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After months of not updating I am back with fresh ideas (wow) and new fic updates (wow!!!!!!).
> 
> There's a heck of a lot going on in this chapter but there is also a lot I want to go on in later chapters so I hope it doesn't seem like too much for you guys!!! (also there is a lot of dialogue yikes)

The short walk to the library felt anything other than comforting.

After returning inside to grab my umbrella before leaving I took a shortcut through the park next door, opting to prevent my rucksack from getting drenched yet again. Nerves of anticipation bubbled up in my stomach as I trudged past the playground, peering towards the deserted swings covered in rainwater before looking away towards the exit of the small park.

The library was closed when I got there, which was pretty sucky considering it was a Saturday, so I just ended up walking around the park for a bit.

I probably would have looked lost if there were any people around but it was always empty during this time of year so I didn’t feel too self conscious. My blue sneakers sunk into the muddy grass as I trudged along towards the swing set before I plopped down onto the wet seat, laughing to myself about how stupid this whole thing was.

I didn’t even know what the hell I was searching for but I left my room and came all this way for a reason even I didn’t understand.

I wanted information? About what!? Strange short, blonde girls that truant school and some dumb guy that practically exists to make my life hell. What was I thinking!?

I groaned and covered my face with my hands, wiping away the water that had trailed down from my matted blonde fringe and lined my face with ugly, wet stains. It was a hopeless case, I was probably just bored or looking for an excuse to justify being tormented. I just thought that maybe for a second there would be some fault in this crappy routine of a lifestyle, and that maybe one day I’d go back to school and everyone would go back to the way they were before we all became miserable.

I sighed and stood from my seat, patting at the damp that had soaked the back of my jeans before zipping up my coat and walking back towards the exit.

Maybe in that moment where his eyes had flashed gold and I had watched that ever present smirk widen in something adjacent to knowing something I didn’t, I realized I had finally had enough.

On Monday I avoided him like the plague.

Not that I didn’t usually avoid him, I had just never gone out of my way to do so at all.

I had history first period but I turned my head away from the rest of the class despite the worried looks Mikasa shot my way every five minutes of class time.

It was a struggle but I left at the end of the period with a feeling of accomplishment, even going so far as to duck under Ymir’s arm as she tried to block off the doorway, to which I received an incredulous look in return.

I shared my next class with Eren, who was surprisingly good at math despite everyone’s previous assumptions. I was also about ninety-nine percent sure Mr. Ackerman was not pleased to have him in his class again after last year, though on the other hand, he was Mikasa’s uncle so any escape from the green eyed boy was virtually impossible, despite his attempts at completely ignoring his presence in the classroom.

“G’morning, Mr. Ackerman,” Eren sang, grinning widely at him as the man sighed and sunk lower in his seat.

We sat in our usual spots at the back of the room and watched the other students pour in from the hallways in a comfortable silence.

“Hey,” Eren whispered to me after a couple of minutes of watching Mr. Ackerman point to equations on the board. He slipped me a note to which I grudgingly accepted, eyes flickering back and forth from the lesson to his chicken scrawl written on the slightly torn up piece of paper.

**You look bummed out**

I shot him a look of which I assumed he would pick up as “no-duh” and wrote back my reply half heartedly.

_No kidding. This class is kind of torture._

**I mean in general, what happened last weekend??????!**

_???_

**You didn’t even want to hang out**

I rolled my eyes at the disgruntled look he shot me, urging me to write a reply.

_I was at the library._

**No surprises there**

_I’ve been busy ok. Just do your work._

He snatched the note off of my desk and sighed loudly, attracting the attention of a bored looking girl in front of him.

“Oi!”

I jumped in my seat, eyeing Eren as Mr. Ackerman shot a glare in our direction.

“Braus, eyes to the front.”

The girl in front of Eren, that I quickly recognized as the “class glutton,” groaned and swivelled back around on her chair, leaning back in order to stare intently at my rucksack underneath my desk. I glanced down before catching her eye as she continued to peer into the contents of my bag.

“No way…” she squealed under her breath, eyes widening in shock before I grabbed my rucksack and quickly zipped it up in haste that she did not see what I think she thought she saw.

Why did I put food in my bag. Why did I put food in my bag. _Why did I put food in my bag!?_

“Hey are those corn chips?,” she whispered, glancing quickly back at the board before leaning forward in her seat, “I’ve tried those before…if you were wondering… And the names Sasha too, if you didn‘t know.”

“I’m…Armin, and thanks? I guess.”

“So are you gonna eat them or?”

“I was planning on it.”

“Cool, cool. I was just maybe thinking that if I gave you some gum we could do swapsies,” she continued, chewing as she spoke, “If you really wanna.”

“I’m good.”

“You could join me for lunch later, if you want to trade then? I’ve got a fresh packet.”

“You really love corn chips, huh?”

“More than anything in the world,” she sighed wistfully, turning back towards her desk before Mr. Ackerman could look up from his diagram, “Connie, likes ‘em too, just not as much, says they’re too salty.”

“Right…” I breathed, running my hand through my hair and staring at the clock in favour of the bell, “Well, I guess it would be okay, if you really want them that badly.”

“Awesome,” she squealed, pumping her fist behind her chair as a sign of victory.

\-----------------------------------

It turned out Sasha was also a friend of Mikasa’s, albeit not being that well acquainted with each other. They shared a lot of classes together as admitted by Sasha herself, who then in turn dug into the corn chips I had very reluctantly given her.

“We should hang out more,” she mumbled through her food, “You guys are super nice.”

Eren rolled his eyes and continued to pick at his sandwich while I nodded politely in response.

“Guess we don’t see you around a lot,” Mikasa replied, sipping her juice quietly while Sasha crunched her way through the packet.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Connie chipped in, “Just didn’t really see you lot as the type to socialize.”

“I socialize all the time,” Eren grumbled under his breath, “I know lots of people.”

“Well, I hate to break it to you, bud,” Connie grinned, “But you ain’t exactly all that popular with the kool kats hanging around this joint.”

Eren shrugged and tore at his bread momentarily, obviously still displeased about the sudden change in seating arrangement.

“So are you guys,” I started, looking up from where my eyes trailed the seam of my lunch tray, “…popular?”

“Pfft,” Sasha snorted, braces flashing obnoxiously under the bright lighting of the cafeteria, “Nah, we’re just a couple of freeloaders.”

Connie chuckled along for a couple of seconds before patting her on the back for emphasis.

“We just take the easy road, dude. We’re well known but not too well known, if you catch my drift.”

I shook my head and blinked owlishly up at him, still confused about what he was trying to say.

He sighed before continuing, leaning across the table before scanning the area of the cafeteria secretively, “We aren’t fresh meat, ya know. We’re the “funny guys,” that’s our safety net in this dump of a school. If you wanna take the easy way out, you’ve found your guy.”

“So what you’re saying is you’re a drug dealer,” Mikasa input bluntly.

“Well, you got me stumped there,” Connie replied, resting his elbows on the tabletop, “Can’t say I’ve been exactly discreet ‘bout nothing.”

“You got anything on you now?” Eren said, suddenly interested in taking part in the conversation.

“ _Eren_.”

“Can’t say I have,” he replied nonchalantly, “I’m sorry, I assumed this was just a lunch between new friends.”

Sasha set down the empty packet of corn chips on the table, now folded up into a square shape and slightly ripped at the corners.

“If you’re interested in buying,” she said, “I wouldn’t suggest it. You get hungry, a lot.”

“And ehh, public areas aren’t really our scene,” Connie continued, “I’m not exactly a shady guy but I know how to take care of business.”

“He doesn’t want anything,” Mikasa quickly interjected, ignoring the obvious glare Eren was directing her way, “Really.”

Connie shrugged and changed the conversation topic at that. I found that talking with them was actually kind of pleasant, if not surprising. Plus, they really were funny, and despite all their talk before, they didn’t appear to be shifty in any other sense of the word.

“So where are you guys heading after this,” Sasha asked, brushing her fingers through her ponytail absently as she stared down at the remainder of her lunch.

“Um, sixth period?” I replied, unsure.

“No, silly! I mean after school!”

“Home,” Mikasa stated blankly, standing from her position and pulling her rucksack over her shoulder, “It was nice having lunch with you but I think we should just leave it at that.”

“Mikasa,” I hissed, “Don’t you think that’s kind of harsh.”

“I’ve got cheer practice to get to and you’ve got grades to maintain. We haven’t got time to waste goofing off with people we don't know.”

“And what about me?” Eren said, glaring up at her, “Do you think I’m just going to follow you home because you’re my sister? Maybe I want to do something fun for once.”

Mikasa sighed, ignoring the question while I followed suit, picking up my bag and readjusting the straps.

“It was nice meeting you guys,” I mumbled, attempting to brush my hair out of my eyes with my fingers before facing them again.

“No problem,” Connie replied, “If you ever wanna hang out, we’ll be around. Just give us a call.”

“Sure thing,” Eren said, standing from the table in turn before flashing them both a quick grin, “See you ‘round.”

The three of us walked out of the cafeteria and down the hallway together, avoiding the familiar eyes of our peers staring us down as we made our way towards our lockers one at a time. Back in middle school we’d hoped to get lockers next to each other but to our misfortune they ended up even further away than we’d have liked. We’d always stop off at Eren’s first, mostly because it was closer to the main entrance and the cafeteria, while mine was on the other side of the building and Mikasa’s was next to the assembly hall.

I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn't partially concerned about the contents of Eren’s locker when everyday something stupid and totally un-school related was taken in and out of it.

“What class have I got next?” he mumbled mostly to himself while squinting down at the still torn up schedule tapped to the inside of his locker.

“You’ve got English.”

Eren groaned and slammed his locker door shut before gently resting his forehead against it, “Why me.”

“Armin and I have AP Biology,” Mikasa added, tapping her fingers along the metal door beside his head, “You’ll be fine.”

“Yeah but there’s a seating plan and I have to sit next to horseface,” he sighed, turning to stare at the ceiling, “And not to mention the fact that Mr. Gin gets real riled up about homework.”

“That’s your problem.”

“Um,” I started, shuffling my feet slightly across the floor in attempt to get a word in, “Class is starting soon.”

“He’s right,” Mikasa said, flicking Eren’s ear with her index finger and making him jump from his position, “Your class is across campus, get going.”

“Geez, alright, alright!” he huffed, pulling his rucksack over his shoulder before starting off down the corridor, “I’m gone okay!”

“Let’s go get our stuff,” I said before we set off again.

It was relatively silent as we walked, making our way to Mikasa’s locker first to collect her books before heading towards mine.

“Hey,” she started as I entered my combination and tugged open the metal door, looking up at her patiently until she continued, “Are you doing okay? Last week you seemed kind of distant but now you’re acting like nothing was bothering you. I know you don't want to talk about it but Eren and I are just concerned and I don’t know if it has anything to do with Sasha and Connie but you’ll tell us if anything is wrong, won’t you?”

“I can assure you, it’s nothing to do with them,” I replied, placing my books carefully into my bag, “I guess I was just kind of fed up with Jean, and Ymir and the rest of that lot always taking the piss out of us.”

“Oh, right.”

“Just with all that stuff going on, I thought we could use a bit of a break from it all- not that that’s ever going to happen.”

“Don’t worry your head about it, Armin,” she replied, thoughtfully, “They’re just a bunch of jerks and it’s all in bad blood. I’m glad you’re standing up to them.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Let’s get to class.”

\-----------------------------------

“We seriously have to cut this thing up?” Marco cringed from beside me before reaching over and pushing the silver dissection tray as far away as possible.

“Yep,” I replied, smiling despite our uncanny disposition of being lab partners, “I’ll do it, just pass me the scalpel.”

He sighed and handed it over, flinching as I made my first incision.

“Frogs are gross.”

“No-duh,” I snorted, peering at the instruction sheet before grabbing a pair of small scissors off of the countertop, “This was once a living, breathing animal.”

“Yeah… But it’s kind of weird how you know what you’re doing. You don’t even seem a little repulsed by it’s freaky frog guts.”

“Why would I be?”

“Because it’s dead, dude,” he grimaced, poking at it with a gloved finger.

“Well, that’s kind of the point.”

Marco chuckled whole heartedly and glanced at the clock hanging above the door, “I guess… And uh, I’m sorry I didn’t really get to apologize about last week or whatever. I should probably apologize for everything going on in general though, in all honesty, I’m a huge jerk.”

“No it’s okay,” I said quietly, now only half trying to concentrate on the procedure, “He’s your friend, I get it.”

“Yeah, I know but still, I should’ve said something.”

“It’s not like it’s the first time he’s singled me out, Marco. I can stand up for myself.”

“ _I know_.”

We worked in silence for a few minutes while I tried to locate the main organs and only when I spoke up did I realise there was no point even continuing the topic of conversation, but I guess it was already too late for that.

“Why are you friends with him?”

“Who?”

“Jean,” I said, brows furrowing as I placed down my tools, “You’re not a bad guy, Marco. I don’t understand why you pretend to be.”

“I guess sometimes, it’s just easier to fit into that big, bad high school stereotype,” he sighed, a soft smile making its way onto his lips, “He wasn’t always like this. We’ve been friends for as long as I can remember.”

“Oh.”

“And it sounds kind of stupid when I say it out loud but,” he chuckled, looking about the classroom for a while before averting his eyes back to mine, “I wish we could have been real friends as well, Armin.”

“Yeah," I sighed, picking up a pin from the plastic container on the far end of the counter, "Yeah, Marco. Me too.”

\-----------------------------------

After another week of contemplation, I returned to the library the following weekend, hood up and umbrella out. It never seemed to be sunny in Shinganshina no matter the season and it was often a nuisance having to drag my stupid umbrella around time after time again.

It felt kind of natural to me now though, after living here for so long I doubt anyone wouldn’t be so used to it.

I told Eren and Mikasa I’d be here on terms of studying but of course I still had other things on my mind. I still hadn’t seen Annie around and I was starting to think that I really had been sick or upset enough to make up an imaginary girl that seemed to know exactly what I’m thinking. It would be the easiest explanation but of course I had to take the more complicated route. Study first, research later, that’s the best solution.

I sighed and tucked an annoying piece of hair behind my ear as I turned on the next corner of the street and pulled the handle of my umbrella closer to my chest in hopes that it would shield me from the rain. I was finally going to get some of my questions answered, I was sure of it.

I was grateful for the warmth that washed over me when I had entered the library. It was always quiet as opposed to my usual surroundings and it was the only time I actually preferred to be alone.

It didn’t take too long for me to find a couple of good books on psychology but there was still nothing that could be taken seriously in my hopes to find anything about mythical creatures. I took my time selecting what I wanted until I was satisfied and made my way over to an empty table. Through the large glass window beside the bookshelves I could hear the quiet thud of rain from outside, though I tried to take no notice of it, flipping open the first book and working my way through the lines.

After supposedly a couple of hours reading and taking notes I let out a small sigh and placed my hands on top of the desk, my vision becoming blurred as I stared down at the creases delicately lining them.

Maybe I really was just kidding myself.

I looked around at the other shelves. There had to be something, there was never not something. I was probably just looking in the wrong sections. Working my way around would be the easiest solution.

I got up and made my way towards the first shelf on my left.

Romance.

I almost let out a small groan but stopped myself in time, instead opting to look across the books lining the shelf. If I was going to do this I had to have a good look through everything and besides, romance and charm were kind of related, right? Maybe there was a link.

I silently scanned the titles, looking for any indication of something psychological but most of these books were about an “ordinary” girl meeting some totally hot stud and falling in love, the generic. As I made toward the end of shelf my foot collided with something hard. I jumped back in surprise, looking down to find it was just another book that fallen off of the shelf.

“What the hell,” I mumbled, shivering slightly as I read the back.

_…With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both…_

I quickly flipped through the book, ignoring the strange look the smaller girl browsing at the other side of the section shot me when I let out a loud snort of laughter and stared down at the ground in an attempt to silence it.

“Um,” she murmured, shuffling closer to point at the book in my hands, “Do you like vampire novels too?”

“Huh?” I said, finally looking up to meet her bright blue eyes.

“Your book.”

“Oh! Uh,” I said, “Well, I’m kind of new to this romance stuff but…do you know if there are anymore books like this?”

“Of course,” she grinned, “I’ll show you, they have their own section behind this shelf.”

She walked swiftly around the corner and I followed hesitantly. Not only was I browsing through the romance section, I was actually considering reading one of these things. But I didn’t argue as the smaller girl pointed towards a section of matching books lined up together.

“Woah, thanks.”

“No problem, I know how you guys can get about this stuff,” she giggled, “When my girlfriend found out I was reading this junk she looked more confused than ever.”

“Yeah, I don’t really see the appeal either.”

The girl huffed and folded her arms, “Well, you’ve gotta read them to find out first.”

I nodded and pulled a couple off of the shelf before remembering why I had been searching so frivolously in the first place. She stared pointedly at me for a second before looking back towards the books neatly placed together, “If you don’t want to take a load out, you can always come back next weekend and I’ll help you out again.”

She flashed her ID card at me and I nodded in understanding, “You’re a librarian.”

“You’ve got it! But I only work here part time on weekends,” she smiled sweetly, pointing to her nametag, “Christa Renz, how’d ya do.”

“Armin Arlert.”

She nodded in acknowledgement, tapping her shoes together happily in response, “You know, I’ve seen you around here a lot but we’ve never really spoken before. Do you go to school around here?”

“Yeah, Trost,” I replied, “You?”

“Sina Girls.”

“…Isn’t that kind of far?” I asked hesitantly. Sina was all the way out in the better part of town and it was certainly rare to meet someone from around there visiting here, let alone working here.

“I guess so,” she sighed, “But the education is good and I’m graduating soon anyway.”

“So you’re a senior?”

“Sure am,” she grinned, guiding me out of the shelves and towards the counter, “Okay so, only that one?”

I looked back towards the mountain of discarded books I had left on the table top and then back down at the still smiling Christa, “Yeah, just this.”

I handed her my library card and pulled my rucksack up over both of my shoulders. All that effort for a dumb romance novel I only picked up because I found the back cover laughable. I mentally swore to myself that after this book I will never pick up another one again and after checking out I said a brief goodbye to Christa and head out the door. 

I was met yet again with heavy rain and it was almost a surprise going by how quiet it had seemed inside the large interior of the library. I opened my umbrella and took small steps until I reached the familiar gate of St. Rose’s Avenue, making my way through the park until I spotted a more than familiar figure sitting alone on a bench, cigarette in hand as she glared down at whatever was on the ground.

“Hey!” I called, changing pace before stopping to slide down into the empty space beside her, “I haven’t seen you in a while. I was beginning to think I had just made everything up.”

“I‘ve been busy,” Annie replied, lifting the cigarette to her lips and inhaling deeply before opening her mouth to release a large cloud of smoke, “What’s new?”

I coughed slightly and lifted my head to look at her, watching her play with the silver ring on her finger for a bit before speaking, “I’ve got a lot of stuff I want to ask you about, if it’s not a problem.”

“I know.”

“Um…” I trailed off, not knowing where to start. Though she seemed to have read my expression as she let out a loud sigh, tossing her cigarette butt onto the ground before crunching it into the gravel with her boot.

“Look, the only reason I told you this shit in the first place was because I thought you already knew what I was talking about-”

“But I want to know! That’s why I’m asking you now!”

“Ah.”

“Look,” I huffed, trying to avoid breathing in the smoke lingering in the air, “You told me all of that stuff about Eren and Jean and I want answers. And charmed? What the hell did you mean by that!?”

“It’s exactly what I told you it meant.”

“If this is a joke it’s not funny! I just want a serious answer.”

She stood up and looked towards my rucksack, eyeing it for a few seconds before a small smile pulled at her lips, “Well, come talk to me when you find out yourself, that’s what you were going to do anyway, right? Research?”

“Yeah,” I sighed, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jacket as she walked off without another word, “Wait!”

She turned, icy blue eyes turning cloudy under the rainfall.

“When will I see you again!?”

“When you least expect it.”

\-----------------------------------

When I had made it back home I immediately ran to my bedroom, pulling off my rucksack and opening it up to find the book still intact and looking as dull as ever. The only reason I was actually going to scan through it was because of it’s reviews and because Christa was really nice, plus, I couldn’t help but feel bad for all the fuss I had made earlier when clearly she was just trying to help.

I threw myself on top of my bed and stretched out. It was warm, gladly, and despite not doing much today, I felt strangely tired. 

Grabbing a pen, I worked my way through the prologue, confused but also intrigued. I underlined the things I wanted to research and the things I thought were completely ridiculous. Do people really read this kind of crap on a day to day basis?

I snorted and rolled my eyes at the main character, finding myself skipping more pages than necessary before sliding the book into my desk drawer. I’d return it next weekend and apologize to Christa. I just couldn’t get into it, there was no appeal.

But that was kind of becoming the norm nowadays anyway, I think my interests just became more and more non-fiction related as I got older.

“Ughh,” I groaned, rolling over on my bed and pressing my face into my pillow, “Loser.”

I had totally forgotten the initial reason of going to the library in the first place. And in the morning the first thing I was greeted with was a hard shove against my locker door, courtesy of Jean Kirschstein, himself.

“Watch where you’re going, princess!” He called out to me as Eren proceeded to chase him down the remainder of the hallway, pushing past the crowd of shocked students on their way to homeroom.

From the corner of my eye I saw Marco shrug apologetically before turning to catch up with Reiner, Bertholdt and Ymir who had already taken to running after Eren.

I sighed and rubbed at the throbbing pain where my head was slammed against the locker. Ducking it down and taking a deep breath in order to keep myself from crying. I felt like a total ass letting him push me around like that and despite Eren getting the same treatment, at least he was able to fight back.

“Ignore them,” Mikasa hissed, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder, “Don’t even spare them a second glance. They’re not worth it.”

She was right, as usual. They weren’t worth the hassle of putting up a fight but surely there had to be another way to get them to back off.

“Mikasa.”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t happen to have Sasha’s number, do you?”


	3. 2354

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guide to screwing everything up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a filler but also kind of not, so this chapter is kind of long. I hope that's alright with you guys!

“Okay, so let me get this straight,” Sasha mumbled through her sandwich, “You want _us_ , to help _you_ prank some of the biggest douchebags I’ve ever met in my life because of your own fucked up sense of satisfaction?”

“That’s the plan,” Eren replied, leaning back against a large tree in the quad while I brushed the leaves off of my jeans, “I was thinking of something humiliating but not suspension level humiliating.”

“One prank or multiple?”

“That depends,” I chipped in, “What choice is more effective?”

Connie let out a bark of laughter at my question and spread his legs out further along the grass. When I called Sasha I hadn’t expected them to accept without any form of persuasion or payment but they had seemed more than happy to oblige.

“I guess multiple,” she continued, “If we’re going to go with a build up then we might as well leave the worst of the worst for the finale!”

“I think we should target them one by one then if that’s what you’re saying,” I replied, fiddling with the binder in my lap that I brought only as a precaution of note taking. 

I had never planned a real prank before. It was usually just more of that mediocre stuff like jumping out of Eren’s closet when he went to the bathroom or hiding the TV remote when no one was looking so in all honesty, I wasn’t exactly that sure what to expect.

“You got it!” Connie grinned, “All you’ve gotta do is give us a couple of names…”

“A couple of pranks!” Sasha chipped in.

“And boom! Presto! The show has begun!”

I looked at Eren for support but he seemed to be just as deep in thought as I had been earlier today when I’d told him about my idea to get Jean and his cronies off of our backs. He was surprisingly more reluctant at first than I’d thought he’d be but I guess that was more to do with the fact that he could get into even more trouble than usual if the plan didn’t follow through.

“I’d hate to be generic but what about laxatives for candidate number one?” he finally added, looking around for our approval.

“It’s easy, _totally_ overdone and a good warning for the rest of their goons,” Sasha contemplated, “I like it.”

“I think it would be better to start off with a couple of people in order to give off that _do not cross us vibe_ ,” Connie nodded along, twirling loose strands from Sasha’s ponytail absentmindedly, “Especially if it means getting the weakest links out of the game first off.”

Brilliant.

“And number two?”

“Well we all know Ymir is obsessed with her car,” I said, “ and…”

“And?”

“And I’ve seen her put her keys in rucksack so maybe if someone got them we could put something gross in her car?”

“Yes!” Sasha squealed from beside me, “That’s gold, gold, gold!”

“Awesome,” Connie hummed, tapping his fingers along the grass in thought, “Anything else?”

Eren snorted, attracting the attention of Sasha, Connie and I before shooting us all a wicked grin, “I think I’ve got something in mind.”

\-----------------------------------

“I haven’t seen you guys around a lot lately,” Mikasa said, narrowing her eyes at Eren and I before moving forward in the lunch queue, “I know I have extra curricular but it’s nothing more than I usual- oi,” she paused, staring down at us while I shuffled further along the line, “-and the looks you keep giving each other are giving me the creeps. What the hell is going on?”

“Nothin,’” Eren replied, picking a pudding cup off of the rack and placing it onto his tray, “Just been busy trying to get some extra credit too, ya know.”

“Right…” Mikasa looked as if she didn’t believe him in the slightest, “And what about you, Armin?”

“I’ve been working on an English assignment in the school library.”

She sighed and picked up her cutlery at the end of the line before turning, startled by the loud yelps coming from the other side of the cafeteria.

“What the fuck, Reiner!?”

“Bertl, help! I think I’m gonna shit my pants!”

“God! You freaks, get away from me!” Jean yelled, jumping up from his seat in favour of getting away from the two beefier looking boys that quite honestly looked like they were about to cry, “What the hell are you two trying to pull!?” 

Eren began to cackle from his position in the queue, now unmoving, head thrown back as he relished the sight in front of him. 

I couldn’t help but cringe as Marco shuffled further along the table in an attempt to get away from the scene while Ymir just looked completely shocked beyond belief.

_“I said get away from me!”_

_“What the hell are you doing!? Stop!”_

By this time Bertl looked like he was going to puke and Reiner was holding onto his jeans as if they were going to fall off. The rest of the student body was either laughing or staring in disbelief as one of the most popular jocks at Trost High rushed out of the cafeteria with his lanky companion following in suit.

My mouth hung open in shock at the reaction it had provoked, though I couldn’t help but feel a little bit guilty about it happening in front of so many people.

Jean was still hunched over the table, pale and shaken from the disturbance it had aroused throughout the cafeteria. All eyes were on them as if to see what would happen next but I definitely didn’t count on the way he snatched up his rucksack from the ground and pulled it over one shoulder, glaring down at Marco and Ymir with a look I presumed could be interpreted as “hurry the fuck up.” 

A roar of laughter was heard from a majority of the occupants of the cafeteria as they left, all red in the face apart from Ymir, who was still as earnest as ever.

I couldn’t help but chuckle along with them, avoiding Mikasa’s stare as the remaining trio slipped out of the exit and away from the crowd.

“What the hell was that about!?” she quipped, turning to around to throw a still laughing Eren a hard glare. If I stared hard enough I could probably see the sharp daggers she was sending him telepathically, which at this point could _definitely_ not be classed as an over exaggeration.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he huffed, now short of breath, “But that- pfft, that. Was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life-! Ow - ow! Mikasa!”

Mikasa sighed, fingers pinching Eren’s ear before tugging him sharply towards her, “So what you’re saying is that you had nothing to do with this?”

“Geez, Mikasa! Would you let me go already!” Eren whined, swatting at her arm until she sighed and dropped her hand, “It’s just a joke so stop getting so worked up about the whole thing!”

“For fucksake, Eren! Can’t you do something useful for once instead of trying to get in trouble all the time!” she spat, “You’re not the “clown,” the things you do aren’t funny - they’re just hurtful!”

“Well, what the hell do you expect me to do!? Stand around and get my ass kicked!?” He yelled back, now attracting attention from some onlookers within the cafeteria as they slowly stopped laughing and diverted their attention to the two siblings, still standing at the end of the lunch queue, “We aren’t in middle school anymore, Mikasa so stop treating me like a fucking kid!”

“So, what? I just have to sit back and watch you make a fool of yourself?” she replied, softer now as she glanced around the hall, “You carry on the way you always do and now I’m the bad guy?”

“Mikasa-”

“No, whatever,” she said, cutting him off abruptly as she dumped her untouched food into the bin and slipped her tray back onto the rack, “You want to act like a big man, Eren Jaeger. Go ahead. But I’m not going to just stand by in silence like I did when we were freshman.”

She stormed off and out of the doors of the cafeteria. People opting to stare back and forth at either us or the swinging double doors left in her wake.

I stared down at the ground, hoping that maybe if I tried hard enough I could melt into the expanse of the floor and get away from all the prying eyes.

“Whatever,” Eren hissed under his breath before kicking a stray chair into the bin, “Who the fuck needs her anyway.”

“You do.”

“What?”

“I said you do!” I snapped, “Mikasa is right, Eren. Maybe you don’t think she’s right about this but she’s definitely right about you.”

“Not you too.”

“No,” I said, lowering my voice and waiting for people to go back about their own business, “Hear me out. We’re a team, okay. But just because we’re a team doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stand up for ourselves as individuals.”

“But-”

“No buts. I just want a yay or nay.”

“Yay,” he sighed unenthusiastically, “Look, Armin. I know I’m a huge fuckup most of the time and that I always start a lot of shit - Exhibit A,” he nodded towards the now empty lunch table that once sat the totally bad dudes, “and Exhibit B,” he said, pouting slightly before glaring towards the door, “I just think that maybe Mikasa and I should spend some time apart for a little while and see if we can figure something out later.”

“Well, what about us?”

“What?”

“Do you think that we need a break too?”

Eren was silent for a few seconds before scratching his head in thought. The three of us had been friends from an early age. I was six years old when I first met Eren and our houses have been side by side for as long as I could remember.

My family had never really needed to take time out to see a doctor when the price of healthcare was too high and Eren’s father was only a fence away, and soon Eren and I became regular playmates. Mikasa showed up around two years later. She was quiet but kind and liked to help Eren’s mother, Carla, around the house when her remaining family were absent.

It was weird not having her here with us now. 

The rest of the day went by quickly and uneventfully. I even passed Ymir in the hallway at the end of seventh period but she walked on without a glance in my direction, obviously still phased by the crisis caused at lunch. 

Jean wasn’t much different however, he was hovering by his red, compact, pickup truck after school alone, which was a surprisingly a new development. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked past, harsh and piercing as they were, they were almost magnetic. And I couldn’t stop myself from looking back over in time.

He beckoned to me and I felt myself walking towards him, feeling slightly embarrassed under his cold glare.

“You got something you want to say to me, Arlert?”

“No-”

“What do you take me as, a fool?” he hummed before raising his voice, “What’s next, huh!? You fuckers gonna trash my car!?”

I flinched and he sighed in response, eyes flashing dangerously in the light.

“Where is he?”

“Who?”

“Jaeger.”

I shrugged defiantly and he grabbed my wrist in response, pinning it sharply behind my back, “Where. Is. Jaeger.”

“I don’t know,” I huffed, “He left before me.”

“Don’t lie to me, weirdo,” he hissed, pinching the skin around my arm as I tried to wriggle out of his grip, “You’re hiding him aren’t you.”

I dug my teeth into my lip when his grip tightened, tasting a tinge of blood on my tongue as I tried to soothe the pain away.

I felt his fingers loosen around my wrist and his golden eyes darkened as he leant closer, still as sharp and as cold as ever, “I’ll ask you one more time. Where is he?”

“I told you I don‘t know, so get off of me.”

He inhaled slightly before releasing my arm and shrugged me off abruptly, looking me up and down before turning around and unlocking his vehicle casually as if nothing had happened.

“When I find him he’s fucked, don’t think I won’t remember this.”

“Alright,” I gulped, voice sounding more confident than I felt. I could feel his eyes lingering on my face for a few seconds longer than necessary before he pulled open the door to his truck and pushed the junk littering his seat, onto the ground.

“Scram.”

I raised an eyebrow at him as he climbed into the truck. I felt uncomfortable, if that was even the right word to describe the situation right now. We stared at each other for another ten seconds before he groaned and wound down the window beside him, honking his horn obnoxiously. 

“I said, scram!”

I quickly walked away, not sparing another glance in his direction as I rushed out of the school gates and down the sidewalk. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief as I rounded the corner towards St. Rose’s avenue to cut through the park again. My eyes were automatically drawn towards the bench Annie had occupied just a week ago. It was empty, just like it had been the last twenty two times I had passed by.

Rain had started to pour down again on cue but I didn’t find myself picking up the pace to get home, instead opting to walk slowly down the gravelly path as I observed the rest of the park and it’s already wilting plant life.

It couldn’t hurt to grab a few books, could it?

\-----------------------------------

“So you didn’t like the book?” Christa frowned as I handed it back across the counter.

“It wasn’t really my thing but the concept was interesting.”

“Yeah,” she replied, tucking her hair behind her ears, “It makes me kind of glad that vampires, and werewolves, and that kind of stuff doesn’t exist.”

“If it did they probably wouldn’t be like that.”

“I guess not.”

I smiled and she narrowed her eyes at me in return before turning to type something out into her computer. The printer whirred to life a second later and she hopped out of her chair, waiting for it to finish as she pulled out a single piece of paper from the machine.

“If you want to read about real vampires,” she grinned, handing me the paper, “Then take your pick.”

“This is- uh, thanks, Christa,” I replied, as she followed me back towards the shelves I had last looked through before grabbing me by the shoulders and steering me in a different direction.

“That’s the fiction stuff back there. We’re looking for the real deal.”

“And by real deal you mean stories made up by farmers and locals in the eighteenth century?”

“Bingo!”

“Well, I guess I am curious,” I shrugged, “It couldn’t hurt to have a look.”

“Sure doesn’t,” Christa replied, pushing me towards a section that looked like it hadn’t been touched in centuries before plucking the paper out of my hands and peering up at the shelves.

“No one really checks out any of this junk,” she explained, “It’s pretty much all written by the folks who lived here back in the day.”

“Well then, I hate to break it you but I’m not really all that interested in this town’s history.”

She rolled her eyes and plucked a couple of books from the shelf, blowing the dust off of their spines before placing them heftily into my arms, “I thought you wanted to read about real vampires.”

“Your words, not mine,” I sighed in return, “Besides, I didn’t really show up here to look up romance novels in the first place.”

“Then why did you show up?”

“It’s hard to say.”

“Why?”

“It’s complicated.”

“If it’s complicated then enough of the chit chat,” she said firmly, long, blonde hair falling behind her shoulders as she turned to face me “We’ve got some research to do.”

We picked a few more books from the shelf and I made my way over to unoccupied table while Christa went back to her desk. I didn’t really want to admit that after all this time that I did not care about vampires at all due to how happy she seemed when I had asked to see more the first time we bumped into each other, but it was getting tiring after hearing all of her suggestions. It was quiet for a short while as I pondered over her sudden interest in the supernatural but soon enough I was able to force myself to forget about it and concentrate on the task. 

I had chosen a couple of other books about some old rituals that used to be performed and the everlasting tale of the Fall of Wall Maria. I had first heard about it in history class before Mr. Smith transitioned to his position as the principle. He used to tell us about these creatures called titans that were supposed to be as tall as sixty meters and used to roam around the outside of the village walls or so forth.

Of course I didn’t believe it, there had yet to be proof, but the way he’d told the story had always sent shivers down my spine and goosebumps along my skin. It was interesting enough, of course, but I’d never really believed in all that titan mumbo jumbo anyway.

I let out a long sigh and ran my hands through my hair, tucking loose stands behind my ear as I stared down at the book resting on the tabletop. I was beginning to forget why I even came here in the first place.

Why did I have to pick up that stupid book.

“You okay, sport?”

I glanced up at the familiar tone, glad to be greeted with her calm composure and warm smile as opposed to earlier today. The amazingly convenient, Mikasa Ackerman set her books down and slid into the seat beside mine, peering curiously at the pages I was not so subtly trying to cover up.

“What’s that?”

“A book.”

She sighed and folded her arms onto the table top, gently brushing my fingers away from the words lining the paper. I didn’t resist and she flipped over the book, checking out the title before raising an eyebrow at me.

“Folk tales?”

“They’re interesting!” I exclaimed, trying to hide my embarrassment by staring between the lines of writing on the pages, “It’s non-fiction to some extent since it was written by real people. And uh, the stories, though kind of ridiculous and outdated, are pretty darn compulsive.”

“You don’t need to justify your actions to me,” she said quietly, “If you like to read about this kind of stuff I won‘t judge you. I took a wild guess that you'd probably be here and I actually wanted to speak to you anyway, I um…I saw you talking to Jean earlier.”

“Well, I dunno if I’d describe it as talking but…”

“The way he was eyeballing you was giving me the creeps,” she continued, flicking through the pages of one of the books she’d picked up before sighing at its content and placing it back down beside her, “What did he say to you?”

“It was kind of a mix of “where the hell is Eren” and “don’t touch my piece of shit pick up truck,” in all honesty,” I replied, tearing my eyes away from my book to stare back at her, “He wasn’t as bad as he usually is, I guess.”

“I beg to differ,” she said, smile returning to her lips, “You wanna go get some grub.”

“I could eat, it‘s been a long day,” I grinned, standing from my chair and glancing back at the books on the tabletop, “Just let me check these out first.”

\-----------------------------------

“You wanna apologise to me?” Eren huffed as he tipped a shop bought bag of popcorn into Ymir’s car, “Because if I didn’t know any better, the three of us usually go out to get lunch together.”

“Eren, you just told me five minutes ago that you and Mikasa made up yesterday,” I sighed, ripping open another bag and handing it to Connie who was happily snickering in the popcorn filled back seat of the vehicle, “And you know I didn’t do it maliciously so can we just drop it and focus on the task at hand.”

“Okay, number one, just because we made up doesn’t mean that my anger towards the whole thing should go unnoticed and number two! I don’t know what maliciously means so you’d be better off just fessing up!”

“Fessing up to what!?”

“To-,” he started, furrowing his eyebrows in an attempt to come up with something, “-to eating without me!” 

I rolled my eyes but he just shrugged sulkily in return. Connie hopped into the front seat and snatched another bag from Eren’s hands. We were waiting on Sasha’s return from the superstore a couple of blocks away that sold XL amounts of popcorn and other goods for a pretty good price. I wasn’t surprised to see her meandering towards us with a shopping cart full of bags and a slushie in her hand almost fifteen minutes later once she’d joined us at the back of the carpark.

“Dude, third period is about to start!” Connie scowled, leaning out of the driver’s window to properly face her, “Where the heck have you been and where the hell did you get that shopping cart!?”

“I found it around the back of the store!” she replied cheerily around her straw, “Pretty convenient, huh?”

“Isn’t that theft?” Eren chipped in casually whilst tearing open another bag and pouring it into the front. 

“Not if you don’t get caught!” Sasha grinned, before catching the disapproving look I shot her and sighed, “Aw, geez, don’t gimmie those puppy dog eyes! I’ll return it later, okay?”

I nodded and Connie gave me a once over, taking another bag from my arms before speaking.

“You know, Arlert,” he grinned, “I thought you would be a bit of a stiff about this kind of stuff but you’re a pretty cool guy.”

Sasha nodded in agreement and I felt my cheeks warm at the compliment, “Uh, thanks. You guys are really nice too.”

This time it was Eren’s turn to roll his eyes and I couldn’t help but let out a quiet snort in return. He smiled back at me as he unloaded the rest of the bags on his side before allowing Connie to climb out. I guess our argument was short lived, as expected of course, and I was glad he and Mikasa were back on speaking terms too.

We finished up the rest of the task just in time for the bell and Sasha promised me she’d put back the shopping cart after school finished up, how she even got out in the first place, I will never know.

I walked as slowly as possible to third period with Eren in tow. The thought of gym class made me want to puke for more reasons that one.

The first was that it was a totally violence-friendly zone and I think I’ve been hit in the face enough times to justify that.

The second was that the locker rooms were like a jungle full of, wild, sweaty, hormonal teenage boys that liked to run around the place like monkeys and yell vulgar words across at each other.

And the third was that whatever sport we played was split up into a jock versus “whoever the heck is left over” team match. Need I say more?

The locker room was already jam packed when we got there but we soon found our allocated spaces which were yet again way too far away from each other. I opened my locker sulkily and pulled out my gym clothes, feeling automatically self conscious as I pulled my shirt over my head and replaced it with the plain white shirt I had stored in there earlier today.

But only then was I hit was the realisation that Reiner Braun had been absent for two days straight.

I silently cheered as people started to exit into the gym and I slammed my locker door shut in triumph only to be met with the everlastingly smug expression on Jean’s face.

“You look a bit too happy to be going to gym class.”

“So you came to make me miserable?”

“You catch on fast.”

I looked around for Eren but he had disappeared from the other side of the room and was probably waiting for me outside somewhere.

“Jaeger’s not here, princess. So don’t bother running, I just wanted to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Well, ouch. That hurt,” he said sarcastically, folding his arms and leaning back against the lockers, “Listen, I know that you and Jaeger drugged my buddies and all but I just wanted to congratulate you on doing your first bad deed.”

“That’s not what you said before.”

“What? Can’t a guy change his mind about something?”

“It wasn’t us,” I said dryly in return, “You’re making me late for class.”

I walked out of the locker room without another word, unsure of how he would react but grateful that he didn’t.

As expected Eren was leaning up against the wall beside the door, waiting for me to come out.

“Why’d you take so long?” he asked, thick brow raised in suspicion as Jean waltzed out from the locker room, not even sparing us a second glance.

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied, “What did I miss?”

“Not much,” Eren sighed, “Coach was gonna make us play soccer again but these kids won’t leave the field.”

“Bummer.”

“Yeah…but I kind of like gym class though,” Eren hummed, “It’s an opportunity to kick Jean’s ass at something without getting sent to Mr. Smith.”

“If you say so.”

“I got his combination,” Eren grinned, “and I’ve got the stuff too, so we can stick it in there after class.”

“Great,” I replied, shoulders shaking in anticipation as we watched Coach Zacharias argue with the lanky blond and a short, dark haired girl that were occupying the field, “Did you write it down?”

“Was I suppose to?” he replied, clueless, “Shit, I think it was something like 2350- wait, maybe it was 2358...The last numbers kind of look the same so it was either one of those, we just need to make it back to the locker room before anybody else gets there.”

“Eren,” I groaned, “How can you not remember!?”

“Hey! I’m absolutely sure it was one of those two…maybe? Aw man, I’m sorry, Arm’. Come on, don’t give me that look, this plan will still follow through.”

“Yeah but will we be able to get in and get out fast enough now?”

“I dunno, maybe I can drop out of class real quick and-”

“Alright everybody!” Coach Zacharias called from the field, “Into position now, all of you!”

“Shit,” Eren hissed, “We’ll figure it out later, lets just get through this first.”

I nodded reluctantly and followed him onto the field. We were split into teams as usual and typically it ended up being Eren against Jean, pitifully fighting one on one for the ball.

It was impossible to keep my mind off of the plan and the paper bag full of cats puke that was currently stored in Eren’s locker. I cringed at the thought of what it would smell like drenched on Jean’s clothes after the bell before smiling at how mortifying it would be for him.

Of course being stupidly oblivious to what was happening around me, I let out a shrill shriek as I was charged into and pushed into the grass by Eren who has just happened to be running past. I felt my knees sting from the dirt as blood trailed down the side of my leg, wincing at the pain as I brushed the dirt away from the wound quickly before standing. I froze when I looked up to meet Jean’s lingering gaze, but my line of vision was quickly diverted, backing up when Eren ran towards me, apologies tumbling from his lips while he clumsily inspected the wound.

“Eren, Eren! I’m okay!,” I said, grabbing his shoulders to pull him upright, “Maybe I should just head back and rest.”

“What!? Armin, I’m really sorry, I was just really into it and I didn’t mean to-”

“Eren,” I hissed, eyes darting between the gym block and Jean until he finally understood.

“Oh- oh, shit!” he exclaimed a little too loudly before turning to look for the coach, “Coach! Coach! Armin’s bleeding! Can he go to the infirmary!?”

“I guess it’s not a problem but this is a team sport, Mr. Jaeger. What reason do I have to let him off?”

“Well,” Eren replied, shuffling his sneakers along the ground, “He wasn’t really doing anything anyway, so… you know.”

“Good point,” he huffed in reply, “Arlert, you can go get changed.”

I tried not to let my excitement show as I exaggerated my limp back towards the locker room. Now I had about fifteen minutes to figure something out.

The only problem now was that I didn’t know Eren’s locker combination.

I tried it a few times, entering the simple stuff like 0000 and even trying the one he used to use in middle school but it seemed like Eren had realized it was not such a great idea to use 1234 as a combination in high school.

I groaned and walked to the other side of the room towards Jean’s locker, entering both of the combinations Eren gave me before going through 1-0.

_2352..._  
_2353..._  
_2354..._

Yes! That was the one! The door clicked open and I couldn’t help but grin in triumph. But now what was I supposed to do?

I peered into Jean’s locker for a short while, trying to figure out what to do next. It was pretty empty compared to the state of Eren’s locker but nowhere near as clean as mine since his clothes were mostly just thrown in. I grabbed his stuff on impulse, calculating what to do next before making my way towards my own locker and entering the combination.

I pulled it open and made a grab for my rucksack. The plan was going completely off track by now but I couldn’t care less by the time I had unzipped it and pushed Jean’s clothes inside.

Oh my god. _Oh my god_ , what am I doing?

I quickly got changed and slammed Jean’s locker shut before pulling my now very heavy rucksack over my shoulders and running out of the room.

The hallway was silent as I made my way to the infirmary, still very conscious of the weight of my bag when I opened the door to see Petra, the school nurse, sitting happily at her computer.

“Oh! Armin!” she said, shocked, “You don’t look very well! Are you alright?”

“I just scraped my knees playing soccer, that’s all.”

“Well, you’re very pale…” she murmured, thin eyebrows furrowing as she sat me down into a chair by the wall before bending over to inspect my leg, “Are you sure you are feeling okay beside these cuts?”

I nodded and she stood to get a towel to wipe away the blood while I sat in place and stared out of a nearby window, gaze wondering towards the now empty soccer field.

What the hell did I just do?


	4. Electric Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vampireology is the key to understanding!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was having some intense platonic arumika feels so hell yeah a lot of Mikasa and Armin being bros and looking out for each other! Very wordy yet again, so apologies.

I left the infirmary in a hurry, wincing slightly at the tight bandages tugging at the skin of my knees as I speed walked towards my locker, making it just in time for the bell. It was lunch and Mikasa was most likely already waiting for Eren and I outside of the locker rooms but I was stuck. What was Jean going to do when he realised his clothes were gone?

I took a deep breath, resting my forehead against the cool door of my locker and trying to clear my head before putting on a brave face and making my way towards the locker rooms to meet them. 

The hallway had quickly begun to fill up after the bell so it took longer than I hoped to get there and I couldn’t help but feel a little ticked off at the growing crowds that had ended up blocking most of the exits. The area was clear when I arrived in front of the gym’s double doors and I sighed in frustration. It already took me fifteen minutes to get here but the only other option was to divert towards the cafeteria instead.

I set off, dragging my feet this time, as I walked back down the corridor alone. I pushed persistently through the seemingly never ending crowd, and back towards the direction of the hall but let out a small squeak as I was tugged backwards by the collar of my sweater.

“Yo,” Eren said, pulling his hood down from his hair before shooting me a look, “Why the heck do you look so spaced out man, did you do it?”

“What?” I said dumbly in response.

“You know, _the thing_ ,” I shot him another dishevelled glance in response and he sighed, pulling me to one side and away from the ongoing traffic of the hallway.

“You know, the prank. The plan. Come on, Arm. Please tell me you pulled it off.”

“I- I-,”

“Hey, don’t look so shaken up,” he whispered in reassurance, “I’m sure you did great, let’s just play it cool for a while, we can just laugh about it until the whole thing blows over! That was the point of this whole set up-”

“I did a bad thing, Eren.”

“What-? What the hell are you talking about, dude? Don’t tell me your having regrets now!” He huffed, kicking at the ground, “This whole thing was your idea in the first place.”

“No, Eren. I didn’t follow the plan- I-”

“Hey! Douchebag!” _Oh my god_ , “Wanna explain why I had to borrow clothes from the lost and found!?”

“Fuck,” I hissed as Jean pushed past me and made his way towards Eren.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Eren scowled up at him, “But maybe if you weren’t such a cheap asshole you wouldn’t need to in the first place.”

“Is that meant to be a joke?” the taller boy sneered, cracking his knuckles before shoving Eren back sharply, “I’m pretty sure my underwear is worth more than your whole house, you little brat.”

“You’re all talk, Kirschstein. So how about you keep your ugly snout closed for a change so I can go get some fucking food.”

“Oh yeah? You really think I’m gonna let you weasel out of this one, Jaeger!?” He snarled, “If you’re so tired of talk, maybe it’s about time you answered to my fists!”

Jean grabbed Eren by the collar of his shirt, tugging him forward enough to tower over him. Eren growled and spat at him, grinning bitterly back as Jean made a gagging sound and moved to wipe his face.

By now a crowd was beginning to form around the two while I stood in the sidelines, it wasn’t long before I felt Marco’s presence beside me and the first punch had been landed.

The crowd erupted into cheers and I clenched my eyes shut as Eren’s uncut nails raked down the side of Jean’s jaw.

_“Fight! Fight! Fight!”_

I held my breath, counting to ten in my head. This is my fault. This is all my fault and I don’t know what to do.

_“Fight! Fight Fight!”_

“Armin.”

Marco was shaking my shoulders.

“Armin!”

I shook my head. I could feel my eyes watering from where I was standing, I felt completely useless in this situation.

“I’m sorry,” I replied, hands shaking as I reached up to cover my face, “I’m sorry, Marco! This was all my fault!”

There was another scream from a student at the end of the corridor as Mr. Smith came charging through the crowd, of whom all erupted into panic and fled the scene, leaving me lost in the midst of it as I saw Eren wrenched off of Jean by someone who looked suspiciously like Mr. Ackerman, while Jean was held back by Mr. Gin, who had also shown up completely out of the blue.

The bell rang right on cue to signal the end of our lunch break and I heard Eren let out one last roar of frustration before he was forced down the hallway and towards the principle’s office with Jean being dragged along in the opposite direction.

“I’ll get you next time, Jaeger!” Jean screamed from the other end of the hallway, “And when I do, I’ll rip you apart!”

“Go to hell, Kirschstein!”

“Next time you see me you’re going to wish I fucking did!”

The corridor had begun to fill up again with both of them being dragged through the centre of students. It was still hard to see over the heads of the people heading to their afternoon classes but I was still able to make out a familiar figure peering around from behind the large set of lockers beside the exit, leading out onto the football field.

Annie.

I walked slowly towards her at first, as if she was some sort of small animal, scared off by the slightest of sounds. Seeing her again made me feel just as confused as I felt the first time we met beside my locker and again the second time, in the park.

In my head I silently prayed that she would give up talking in riddles but I wasn’t so sure if it was her real way of conveying information, or if it was just light hearted teasing from her own perspective.

Her eyes were almost electric and when she caught me staring that’s what I felt. Pure electric energy.

She looked smug as she shifted from her spot and continued down the hallway towards the field. Her pace was slow but I still couldn’t find it in me to catch up with her, legs heavy and feet dragging me down with a sudden weight I hadn’t anticipated beforehand.

She slipped outside and out onto the field while I followed, completely under her spell. It was like I wasn’t even awake anymore. As if my mind was as clear as it had been when I woke up this morning in fact. All thoughts of Eren and Jean were slowly dissolving and I tried to shake the feeling off but failed miserably in doing so. The field was empty once I had wandered out past the double doors and I searched frantically along the stands only to find myself and myself alone. I felt a lot lighter than I had about a minute ago but I also felt like I had missed out on something.

Memories of what had just happened hit me like a ton of bricks and I suddenly felt stupid for being distracted so easily after. 

Plopping myself down onto one of the empty stands, I buried my head in my hands, feeling the warmth of my tears streaking down my palms and along my wrists as I wept silently into them.

Everything that had happened earlier today was my fault. The pranks, the fight. Eren was sitting in the principle’s office, undergoing punishment right now because of something I did.

He is going to hate me when he gets out of there.

_Mikasa_ is going to hate me for abandoning him.

They were the only ones I had left to rely on and I fucked it all up by trying to act like some stupid hero or whatever.

My eyes still stung from crying as I removed my hands from my face and cupped them against my knees, fiddling with my fingers. My face was probably seriously red by now and I was silently thankful that no one was here to see me like this.

What time was it anyway? Of course today of all days I had to leave my phone at home.

I sighed and stared out towards the field, trying to maintain my breathing as a way of telling myself that things will be okay, even if they wouldn‘t be. All of my decisions were a heck of a lot stupider when they were made on impulse. The locker incident mainly number one, and number two was definitely just the pranks in general. 

I laughed humourlessly to myself and rubbed at any wet traces of tears still lingering on my skin.

Nothing is going to change, no matter what I do. Resistance only lead to a lot more consequence. Maybe it was time I gave up and accepted it.

\-----------------------------------

“What do you mean he’s suspended?” Mikasa snarled angrily at Mr. Ackerman who still seemed just as passive as ever.

“He was caught fighting on school grounds, right in the middle of the hallway in fact. I don‘t know what else you expected,” he replied, setting his mug down onto the tabletop before glancing back at the TV, “Is Toddlers and Tiaras the only show you ever watch? Because I swear to god whenever I’m here it’s always playing on this shitty excuse of a television.”

“No,” Mikasa deadpanned before grabbing the remote and muting the volume, “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you. Are you seriously trying to avoid the topic by talking about beauty pageants?”

“Well I thought it was worth a shot.”

“ _Levi_.”

“Look, ‘Kasa there is nothing I can do, Smith’s already had the last word about it and that’s that.”

I looked down at my fingers, pretending to examine the dryness of my skin to avoid participating in the conversation, or even making eye contact for that matter.

“Is Waffles around anywhere?”

“He’s probably upstairs with Eren.”

“I’m surprised that damn cat isn’t dead yet with the way you overfeed him.”

“Can you shut up about Waffles for a second, I am trying to be serious!”

“I’ve told you what I know and that’s pretty much all there is to say,” he sighed, “If you really care that much then go upstairs and talk to him, there‘s nothing I can do about it.”

“So what then? You show up out of the blue to tell me a bunch of crap I already know?” Mikasa spat back before sighing and sinking back against the couch, “Look, I know I wasn’t there but surely it wasn’t Eren’s fault, I don’t understand why Jean got let off while Eren is being sentenced to skulk around the house with a fucked up face.”

Mr. Ackerman shrugged and continued to stare vacantly at the TV.

“Forget it,” Mikasa sighed, reluctantly pushing herself up and off of the couch, “You’re no help at all. Let’s go Armin.”

I stood up and followed her into the kitchen. Eren hadn’t left his room since he had come home and Mikasa was growing more and more concerned by the hour.

I checked my phone. It was already 9:30PM. Luckily I only lived next door so getting home wasn’t the biggest issue on my mind right then and there, hopefully my grandfather would be asleep by the time I got in.

“Why is he being so calm about this whole thing,” I whispered (that man has ears like a hawk), gesturing back towards the living room, “he’s acting like he doesn’t care about what happens to Eren at all.”

“It’s probably just because he’s a _huge douche_!” Mikasa replied, shouting the last two words to assure that her uncle would hear them.

“ _Oi! I’m supposed to be the adult here!_ ”

“Says the grown ass man watching Toddlers and Tiaras!”

“ _You got me!_ ” He yelled back, probably still sat drinking tea in the same position we left him in.

Mikasa groaned, grabbing a couple of mugs off of the shelf for herself and I before moving towards the tea kettle, “I really don’t know what to do, Armin,” she sighed, “It’s like I’ve got to sort out everything on my own. Thank god you’re here to help me out.”

I nodded and went to fix my own tea, smiling up at her as she offered me my mug, or well, trying at least.

“You know,” I started, “I thought you’d be mad at me for not doing anything about the fight.”

“Why would I be mad at you?” she asked, looking back down at me quizzically, “It’s not like I expected you to intervene or anything drastic like that.” 

But if she knew why it happened she might not be so sure of that.

I just nodded again in reply and went back to observing their kitchen again, even though I had been in there too many times to count. It was cluttered with unwashed dishes in the sink and pots and pans lying about in places they shouldn’t be. The smile even returned to my face a bit when I spotted the old 2010 calendar that neared falling apart, and was still taped to their small fridge with a magnet that had already looked like it had been scratched and scraped away.

If Mr. Ackerman saw the state of it he would probably go bonkers.

When I had zoned back into reality Mikasa had already moved silently towards the other side of the kitchen to hover beside the small, precariously placed table in the corner of the room. I could hear her humming softly under her breath to something that sounded suspiciously like a Lady Gaga verse and I let out a small snort, finally catching her attention.

“What?” she grinned back at me, knowing she’d been caught.

“Nothin,’” I replied, shooting her a smile in return, “You just sing really nice.”

“Well, I don’t know if I would call it singing,” she murmured, looking down at the table to cover the redness creeping onto her face, “It just helps me clear my head a little, let’s me zone out for a little while…”

We were silent for about a minute more, I sipped at my tea while Mikasa continued to stare absently at the tablecloth until it was interrupted by a very sulky looking Eren standing at the doorframe.

“What’s with this gross atmosphere?” he grumbled, rubbing at the bruises along the side of his face as he trudged across the room to plop down into the seat opposite Mikasa, “and why is Levi here? All he ever does is hog the TV.”

“He was worried about you,” Mikasa said, “We all are.”

“Somehow I doubt that judging from the amount of compassion that’s radiating from the living room.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened now? Or are you just going to keep sulking?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I’m going to keep sulking.”

“ _Eren_.”

“Look, Mikasa. It doesn’t matter that much okay, he just got all arsey with me and tried to pick a fight. And it worked, alright?”

Mikasa still didn’t look very convinced but she nodded all the same. It was obvious she was upset about the whole thing and what Mr. Ackerman had said beforehand surely didn’t ease any of her worry.

“You’re being awfully quiet over there, Armin,” Eren mumbled through a slice of bread he had taken from the unopened packet that had been sitting on the table for god knows how long, “It’s not like you’re the one with a busted lip.”

He chuckled humorlessly to himself while Mikasa and I stared vacantly back at him.

“Aw, come on,” he coaxed us, “Laugh a little, you guys. It’s not all bad.”

“I don’t believe you,” Mikasa responded.

“Armin?”

I shook my head and he scowled, pushing his chair back from out of the table and walking out of the room. I heard his bedroom door slam from upstairs and I immediately felt awful.

“It’s not your fault, Armin,” Mikasa whispered, moving to place her hands on my shoulders as a gesture of reassurance, “Don’t look so guilty about something you had nothing to do with. Eren can make decisions for himself and in this case, he didn’t make the right one-”

“Hey,” Mr. Ackerman called, poking his head through the doorframe and raising an eyebrow. Mikasa let go of my shoulders in favour of crossing her arms and raising one of her own thin eyebrows right back at him before he continued, “I’m gonna shoot off, it’s getting kind of late.”

“Bye.”

“Tell Eren I bought him that gross cake thing he likes so much from that bakery down in Sina, it’s in the fridge. You seriously need to clean up this place, it looks vile.”

“Bye.”

“Oh and I left homework for him in the other room so make sure he at least looks at it when he comes out of his room to take a piss or something.”

“ _Goodbye_ , Levi,” Mikasa groaned, walking over to steer him in the direction of the doorway. It was kind of amusing to watch the usually strict and stoic Mr. Ackerman acting like some sort of obnoxious man-child outside of school and I couldn’t help but laugh a little as I heard the front door slam before Mikasa charged back into the room.

“That man is such a huge pain in the ass.”

“No kidding,” I replied, still standing beside the counter, “Do you think Eren is gonna be okay?”

“He’s probably just got a lot on his mind right now, I’m sure he’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so,” Mikasa responded with a tight lipped smile, “Let’s go watch Toddlers and Tiaras or something if you’re going to stay the night-”

“Actually, I better go home,” I said, cutting her off, “I don’t think staying over is a good idea while Eren is all riled up.”

Mikasa nodded and we walked to the door together. I grabbed my jacket and hugged her goodbye before leaving, hopefully she would be able to sort Eren out before his father came home.

I pulled my keys out of my pocket and opened my front door as silently as possible. All the lights were off so as expected, my grandfather had probably gone to bed.

I half ran, half crept up the stairs into my room and pulled off my jacket, diving for the rucksack I had dropped off earlier when I got in after school. The rest of the day had been kind of hard to handle without Eren there, especially after Ymir had seen the damage to the inside of her car. She had started full out sobbing, which was a sight I had not expected to see, ever.

It was pretty much impossible to leave school without feeling a little bit guilty for all the stuff that had happened today and even the thought of it made me start to feel terrible again. I pulled out homework and some other books I had needed earlier today and placed them on my desk, instead opting to head over to my bed and pick up the book of folk tales I had left lying there the night before.

I lay back on my bed, flicking through the book until I found the small corner fold I had left once I had gotten too tired to finish the page.

Weird. I was pretty sure I was reading about the monarchy last night, when did I even get this far into it?

“Vampires…” I whispered under my breath, stroking my fingers down the page and across the old drawings, along with the inky scrawl written beneath them.

Maybe I subconsciously chose this page because of that other awful book Christa let me check out. It kind of made sense, I figured.

1\. How to kill a vampire.

_Exposure to long lasting sunlight [, be aware of a vampire’s trickery and speed - they are able to detect the weather through sense of smell]._

Yeah, because that made total sense.

_Dismemberment [, caution required, touch can become scalding when willed]; tools required._

_Fire [, exposure required for long period of time]._

_Silver [, exposure required for long period of time. Resistance possible by nature.] Process is slow, much is required._

_Porphyric Hemophilia [unknown]._

“Unknown?”

I scanned the next couple pages and flipped through the rest of the book, nerves on edge when I couldn’t find anything else referencing to whatever the last solution was. It sounded like some sort of medical condition but I had never heard of anything like it before in my life.

I jumped up and walked over to my desk, grabbing my laptop and turning it on before bringing it back over to my bed.

I typed the word into google but nothing medical or relevant to vampires showed up.

It was most likely just some made up word anyway. None of this could be true, it was virtually impossible.

I sighed and stared at the screen for another five minutes or so before giving up and turning the damn thing off. It was getting late anyway and I had to face school without Eren again tomorrow.

I closed the book and placed it beside my pillow, gazing at it for a little while before getting up to get ready for bed. Maybe if stuff like that did exist I’d have something more threatening to worry about than homework and high school bullies.

\-----------------------------------

“ _Porphyric Hemophilia?_ Can’t say I’ve ever heard of it,” Dr. Zoë said, scratching the end of their nose before wandering out from behind their desk, “Where did you even hear about it in the first place?”

“I just saw it in this book I was reading and I was unsure if it was a medical condition or not.”

“Well I can certainly say I’ve never heard of anything like it before! Have you searched online?”

“I did but I couldn’t find anything it could possibly relate to,” I replied, looking towards the door of the biology classroom, “Sorry for wasting your time.”

“Hey, hey! No time was wasted! I didn’t transfer all the way from London just for kicks, you know!” they grinned, “Come back and tell me if you find anything else on it.”

I nodded and slipped out of the classroom quickly to greet Mikasa from where she had been waiting across the hall.

“Did they know anything?”

“Nothing at all, Dr. Zoë hadn’t even heard of the word before I told them!”

“That’s strange, are you sure you didn’t pronounce it wrong?” She asked, pulling her bag over her shoulder before we headed down the empty corridor and off towards the car park, “It’s the end of the day and all that textbook talk can be hard to remember.”

“I’m sure I wouldn’t have forgotten anything as strange as that, Mikasa.”

“It might just be made up then,” she continued, “Like you said before, some crazy dude from the 18th century probably just created it in order to write somebody off.”

“You’re right,” I sighed, “I’m over thinking it.”

“It’s cool. You’re stressed, so no worries.”

“Hey! Hey, Armin!”

I turned and nearly collided with an out of breath Marco. Jumping backwards, I was able to inspect his face. It looked like he had been trying to catch up with us for a while.

“What the hell do you want?” Mikasa snarled.

“I- uh, Armin,” he huffed, trying and failing to avoid Mikasa’s unwavering glare, “Can I talk to you real quick?”

“If you’re talking to him then you’re talking to both of us so spill,” she replied, crossing her arms as if to emphasize her words.

Marco looked between us hesitantly, finally regaining his breath before continuing, “I just wanted to see if you were alright since you kind of disappeared on me yesterday-”

“Disappeared on you?” Mikasa questioned, raising her eyebrows before her eyes darted between Marco and I, “Is there something going on that I don’t know about?”

“Mikasa,” I whined, “Just let him finish.”

“Look,” Marco sighed, turning to Mikasa, “If it’s about the whole thing with Jean and Eren yesterday, I know as little about it as Armin does. It just happened out of nowhere and I was pretty concerned after he ran off so quickly afterwards.”

“You saw me leave yesterday?” I asked, feeling my face heat up in embarrassment.

“Yeah, I get that you were upset about Eren getting hurt but it kind of freaked me out when you ran off like that.”

“Why do you even care so much?” Mikasa bit back, “You’re just another asshole in that fucking gang of bullies and it’s not like you’re his friend or anything.”

Marco was silent after that, looking down at the ground to cover an expression of what could best be described as shame.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said after about thirty seconds of nothing, “I’m really sorry about the way I treated you before and everything that happened with Eren! I didn’t think he would take it this far again!”

“Then why…” I muttered, “Why are you still supporting him if you know what he’s doing is wrong?”

“I’ve told you before, he’s my best friend-”

“If he was really your best friend you would tell him to snap the fuck out of it instead of coming here and begging for forgiveness like some pathetic dog,” Mikasa interrupted before grabbing my arm and storming off towards the exit, “Come on, Armin. Let’s go.”

“Wait! Please- You don’t understand!”

“I think Armin and I both understand well enough not to get involved with someone like you!”

“But if you just listen to me for a second I-”

“I think we’ve heard enough!”

I stayed silent, allowing Mikasa to pull me along and out of the building with no sign that Marco was still following us.

“What the hell is his problem!?” Mikasa hissed mostly to herself, “Thinking he can suck up to you just because his slimy jackass of a friend isn’t around!”

“It’s okay, Mikasa,” I frowned, “I can take care of myself.”

“I know that. I just don’t want that creep to get the wrong idea.”

“He’s not a creep.”

“Armin-”

“I said he’s not a creep. He looked genuinely concerned, Mikasa.”

She shot me an incredulous look and shook her head in disbelief, “Are you being serious right now? Eren just got suspended!”

“But that wasn’t his fault!”

“Well that’s not good enough! Fuck, all I want is an explanation-!”

“It was my fault Mikasa!”

She stopped in her tracks, letting go of my wrist and turning to me slowly with an unreadable expression.

“What?”

“It. Was. My. Fault.”

“How?” she whispered, lifting her shaking hands to place them on my shoulders and stare into my eyes for any trace of a lie, “How!?”

“I- I stole Jean’s clothes.”

“What!?”

“It wasn’t meant to end up like this it was just a joke and I didn’t know Eren’s locker combination and- and…we had a plan but I took it too far and now Eren’s hurt and he can’t come to school anymore.”

I winced as her hand connected with my cheek, leaving a painfully hard sting on my skin before she pulled me in close, burying her face into my hair, “Don’t cry…don’t cry…”

“I’m not crying, Mika-” I wasn’t able to finish, pulling her away from me to stare up at her glassy eyes and tear stained cheeks.

“What am I supposed to do with him? With both of you!?” she whispered, “He knew didn’t he? Eren. He didn’t want to get you in trouble?”

I nodded and she shook her head, smiling.

“Lets go get some Mcdonalds or something,” she sniffled, wiping at her face with her sleeve before linking arms with me once more, “Maybe Eren will be downstairs by the time we get back.”

\-----------------------------------

I groaned and rolled over in my bed, pressing my face into the pillow in hopes of cutting off any oxygen I was breathing in, but to no avail.

It was 12:47AM and I felt completely awake after being woken up by a stupid nightmare that I was already beginning to forget.

This was just perfect. 

I slipped out of my blankets and walked across the room to flick on the light switch. I winced at the newfound brightness and padded back to bed, pulling out the book of folk tales from underneath my pillow and flipping through it.

_Porphyric Hemophilia [unknown]._

Why was this still bothering me.

I scanned through the rest of the page, studying the eerie sketches and illustrations that were placed under almost every description.

2\. Behaviour and Abilities.

_Like humans, vampires inherit certain skills and abilities. However, they are not necessarily the same ones they had as human beings. The transition from human to vampire results in a “new birth.”_

_New birth [results in change of behaviour and ability, physically and emotionally] transitions involve: change in eye colour, behavioral patterns, physical strength, and spiritual or magical awareness. [caution advised, results of the “new birth” may vary]._

I furrowed my eyebrows, eyes still adjusting to the light of my room. Whoever wrote this sounded like they really believed it. 

_[Mind control, readings, witchcraft; charms, enchantments]._

3\. Transition.

_When a “new birth” has been completed, the body is then reverted into a more appealing and attractive form. Their skin becomes pale and well-toned with a near perfect complexion. Any signs of ageing vanish immediately after the transition to give the impression of youth. However, vampires still age accordingly, just slower and less intensely than hum-_

I shivered, closing the book and placing it on my lap. This passage gave me an awful feeling and the more I read, the freakier the whole thing got.

The sense of familiarity washed over me but I didn’t dare dwell on it.

Maybe I was still a bit shaken up after all.

I hummed softly to myself for a while until I felt my body begin to relax a little. It was Mikasa’s solution to calm herself down when she felt anxious or upset and I was surprised at how well it had worked.

“Vampires aren’t real,” I whispered, “They aren’t real. Stop being a baby.”

I took a deep breath and slid the book back under my pillow. I got up to turn off the light and slipped quietly back under the covers, pulling them up over my head in attempt to escape the emptiness of my room and shroud myself in darkness. 

When I had finally calmed down enough to drift back off to sleep I found myself met with another’s eyes, menacing and bright, but swimming with something that could only be conceived as fury. 

Electric blue.


End file.
